Hypnotized
by Sphere Dragon
Summary: Nero knew that Lady and Trish had been researching some weird voodoo stuff lately, but he didn't really think that it'd work. Neither did Vergil, who wanted to prove them wrong. Well, he shouldn't have offered himself as a test subject, that's for sure.


**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Devil May Cry or any of its characters.**

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><p>"Are you sure that it'll work?"<p>

Nero stared at the two women with a sceptical look on his face, feeling slight unease as the blonde one twirled the mysterious object in her fingers. An aura of occult power, _dark_ power, twinkled on its silver surface as the light met it. Ornate inscriptions filled the middle of the object. The chain it hung from rustled quietly.

"It doesn't hurt to try," Lady stated confidently and sent the young demon hunter a calm, yet sparkling glance. The sparkling intensified as she spoke further. "And if something bad happens, Dante will pay the hospital charges. He'll be the test subject anyway."

Trish nodded in agreement - Nero got the impression that they weren't joking about it - and raised the object to eyelevel, fascinated. She rocked the item back and forth, elegant fingers gingerly grasping the chain.

"And if he refuses to cooperate," Trish uttered softly while contemplating the object, "we'll leave him with even more bills to pay. That is the only option we can offer him."

Nero growled under his breath and focused on the devil hunter's desk.

_You sure as hell don't fuck with these chicks._

Even though Nero had been hanging around with Dante, Trish and Lady for quite a while he still didn't know how to behave around the ladies. They were of a different… calibre than the women in Fortuna. He had been brought up to respect and protect women, but he wasn't very sure that these would actually approve of chivalry.

They kicked Dante around without hesitating, after all. But then again, Dante _was_ incredibly cocky - Nero grinded his teeth when he recalled their first fight - and a smartass, so he probably deserved it.

On the topic of Dante…

"When the hell is he returning, anyway?" Nero asked Lady impatiently, putting his left foot on the opposite thigh. Dante sure took his sweet time hauling his ass to the grocery - beer was, of course, the only thing that was written in his shopping list - and then return.

"Very soon, hopefully," Trish answered and sent an innocent glance through the window. She found a nice angle to overlook the whole street outside by the wall, so she leaned against it and - almost absentmindedly - drew a white gun. She twirled the gun around her index finger rapidly. "He's taking _awfully_ long. I know that he's lazy, but does he really need over an hour to buy beer and pizza?"

Lady swirled around and shook her head, her raven hair flying around.

"Booze and pizza," she complained as she made her way to the messy desk, which was overflowing with empty pizza boxes and dark bottles, "is the _only_ thing he eats. I already told him a million times to cut down on the pizza! It's so typical of him to burn cash on fast food instead of paying his debts!"

Lady pointed at the desk to emphasize her words and shook her head once again with a disgusted look on her face.

"You mean," Trish said, containing laughter, "paying his debts to _you_? As far as I know he's pretty much in debt to everyone but me. I _never_ lend him money."

Lady fixed her aggravated gaze on Trish, who cocked her hip and placed the gun against the side of her neck. The latter raised an eyebrow challengingly and smirked.

Nero let out a long, bored sigh and leaned his head backwards. This talk of Dante and his debts were boring him out of his mind. Time would perhaps fly by faster if he turned on some good music. It had helped in the past after all.

_Reminds me of the preaches His Holiness,_ he blinked twice and corrected himself,_ Sanctus used to have. Boring as hell._

Aw, damn. He had forgotten his earphones at home.

He had to change subject quickly, or else he might fall asleep.

"Are you guys seriously going to try that out on Dante?" Nero nodded his head at the object. "He's more likely to piss himself out of laughter than of fear."

Both Lady and Trish looked at the teenager, but with different expressions; Lady put her hands on her hips in a stubborn manner and Trish pressed her lips together into a tight stripe.

Nero narrowed his brow and returned his full focus to the ladies.

The blonde walked slowly towards him, her hips winging seductively.

_What is she going to do?_

She towered in front of the teenager, glaring at him from high above. The dangerous gun now rested on her waist, the barrel facing the floor… for the moment.

"Do I sense a non-believer in this room, Lady?"

Lady and Trish had been indulging that voodoo crap for _way_ too long.

"I sincerely hope not." Lady joined her friend at the creepy stare-at-Nero-game. The different colours of her eyes - dark teal and muddy brown - inflicted strange vibes in him.

"Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are creepy as hell?" he blurted out, and regretted that he had said so the next second when he saw her facial expression.

A loud slam startled everyone in the room. By instinct, Nero rolled swiftly over the arm of the couch and landed lightly on his feet. He drew Blue Rose and aimed at the intruder.

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><p>Vergil glared at the three persons that had the misfortune to cross his path; the white haired child, the black haired debt collector and his mother's doppelganger all had their weapons targeted at him.<p>

Using him as target practise was _not_ a wise choice.

A growl escaped through his teeth, irritation sprouting within him. Suddenly, the bad mood he had been in seemed petite compared to this; the three people that dared to trespass in his home and shove guns up his face angered him more, _much_ more. It was absurd that they thought that they could beat him with their firearms. Small, fragile bullets could never reach the superiority of Yamato's sharp edge.

While pondering if he should show these newcomers how _true_ warriors - no guns! - fought or just ignore it, he walked into his home.

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><p>The only thing that is needed to say is that it was actually <em>Vergil<em> that had the misfortune to cross Trish and Lady's path.

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><p>"It won't work. I can promise you that much. But if you insist, I shall prove it to you that no ordinary object can do that."<p>

Nero rolled his eyes and hid a laugh by scoffing. This could turn out hilarious if it actually worked. Or turn into a tragedy. Or a slaughter.

He watched as Vergil took place on the old man's favourite chair, his spine straight as an arrow.

_Wait. Why did he give up so easily? Vergil never spends any time with anyone except for Dante, so why bother with us?_

But those questions had to wait, because Lady had begun to work her magic!

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><p>The watch that swung in front of Vergil's face ticked to the rhythm.<p>

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

His cerulean eyes - bright and bored - stalked it closely.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Silence laid thick over the room.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. _

No one moved.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Did it work?

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Lady reached out her hand left hand and cautiously waved it in front of Vergil.

She longed to see his reaction…

His eyes followed the watch obsessively, without taking notice of her hand.

It worked.

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><p>Trish covered her mouth with her hands, excitement tingling through her spine.<p>

"Is he..?" she asked quietly and extended her neck to see past Lady.

Lady demonstrated by touching Vergil's forehead with her index finger. If he were conscious, he would've cut off her finger by now.

"He _is_ hypnotized," she replied, smirking to herself. "Completely."

"If it works on Vergil, it'll surely work on Dante!"

"We can finally cure him of his pizza eating! Then he'll be able to pay me back!"

Trish smiled widely. "I love hypnotherapy."

Nero bounced out of the couch and drew closer to Vergil. He studied the hypnotized man from afar, afraid that he'd snap out of it in an instance.

"You gotta be kidding me," he chuckled and scratched his chin. "Let's make him do something!"

Lady grabbed the edge of her leather glove with her teeth and tried to pull out her hand. The fabric was rough and tasted of metal.

"There's something you need to know," Lady mumbled as she struggled with her glove. "He'll wake up immediately when you say a certain word. I'll write it down to avoid mistakes."

When she had finally gotten the stubborn glove off she took a pen and wrote the word down on a piece of paper. Trish received the paper and read it through with a smile on her lips. Nero just scuffed as he read over Trish's shoulder.

"That was random," he commented and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I guess that no one will ever think of it."

Lady nodded and regarded Vergil's face.

"Good thing that he won't remember anything afterwards."

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><p>They decided that the first command they gave Vergil should be something easy.<p>

"I know!" Trish exclaimed and whispered the idea to Lady.

The gunslinger then demanded: "Vergil, I want you to…"

She snickered uncontrollably, but succeeded in finishing the sentence.

"… do the robot."

When the last syllable ended, Vergil followed the command to the last letter.

Vergil began moving his limbs in a robotic manner using fast and rigid movements.

"Is he really new at this?" Trish laughed, her eyes beginning to tear. "It seems that Vergil has visited a discothèque more than once."

Lady's maniac laughter echoed through the room along with Nero's bellowing one.

Lady bent over in an effort to stop laughing. She was laughing so hard her sides hurt.

"It looks so awkward!" Nero mocked and inhaled shakily. "Make him _stop_!"

It looked as if Lady wanted to argue against that point, but she supported her weight against the desk and commanded Vergil to end the dance.

After a full minute, Nero and Trish had recovered. Lady, however, still had her fits of laughter at times.

"We should've filmed it," Trish said and settled down on the couch with Nero at her side. She crossed her long legs. "Too bad he would've killed us if we did."

Lady picked up the watch from the floor, where it had fallen when she had had her little laughing fit.

"Okay," she sniffed lowly, "next command?"

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><p>Nero rested his head on his demonic hand, the smooth surface cooling him down.<p>

"What now?" he asked loudly and started to stamp his heel against the floor. "We better hurry, or else Dante might see what you guys did to his brother."

"True," Trish agreed and leaned her head to the side. "He will either get angry at us for using Vergil as entertainment or encourage us to continue. I have a feeling that the latter one is wrong, but it's just a hunch I have."

"I almost feel bad doing this," Lady confessed, slightly embarrassed. "But we've got nothing better to do, so let's hurry up. Any ideas?"

"Paint Yamato pink?" Trish offered rapidly and received a warning look from Nero. "Eh, never mind."

Nero still felt connected to the sword that had helped him free Kyrie and he wasn't going to let anyone destroy it. A small part of his mind thought that Vergil better be glad that Nero had protected Yamato while he was hypnotized.

Trish gasped. "Why can't we have a barbeque party… and use Yamato as a skewer?"

Nero and Lady groaned.

"Trish! Do you _want_ Vergil to kill you? Besides, have you got any idea of how many demons he has killed with that sword?"

Lady entered two digit fingers into her mouth and pretended to vomit.

"Fine, fine. You're right."

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><p>"Please, Patty: just shut up, will ya?" Dante begged and glanced down at the blonde girl, the pink flounce on her dress flying through the air. "You're giving me a headache."<p>

Patty snorted and raised her chin to meet his gaze.

"That's not how you treat a lady!" she stated, furious. "I can see why you have no girlfriend, Dante."

The Devil May Cry neon sign blinked at the end of the block. When Dante reached his destination, Patty would have to leave him alone! _Finally_!

He switched pace, now walking faster.

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><p>They eventually settled - even though Lady had been strictly against that idea at first - on making Vergil dress in Dante's trademark devil hunter attire, though they refrained from letting his hair fall down; none of them were cruel enough to make him look completely like Dante. It would be a nightmare for Vergil, or wannabe-Dante, to wake up looking just like a mirror reflection of his brother.<p>

He even imitated his brother's cheesy catchphrases, which was more than perfect. If you ignored the huge lack of energy and feeling, he could actually be mistaken as Dante.

Nero's gaze accidentally flashed to the window, where he saw Dante and the little girl Patty outside the shop. The girl was clinging onto his right arm, where he held a pizza box - another one to add to his massive collection. In his other hand, a crate of beer showed off its content proudly.

Suddenly, Nero remembered why he was there.

He raised himself off the couch slowly and went towards the door to 'greet' the legendary demon hunter.

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><p>Meanwhile, Lady had an idea that she hadn't mentioned to the other demon hunters.<p>

She spied over her shoulder to make sure that everyone was occupied, and when she was completely sure that they were…

… she did something that she had wished to do for a long time…

As cliché as it may be, Lady kissed Vergil.

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><p>"Dante!" Patty exclaimed and tugged at his trench coat. "You still owe me a dessert! And a part of your pizza!"<p>

Dante hurried up the stairs to the Devil May Cry, eager to begin his lunch.

"Really?" he replied absentmindedly as he reached for the door. So close..! "Okay, I'll buy you a strawberry sundae at Freddi's if you let me eat in _peace_."

Patty pouted her lower lip, her favourite gesture when there was something she wanted. Therefore, it was Dante's _least_ favourite gesture.

_Don't push it, kid._

"But I want…"

Dante opened the door while he made sure that his beloved pizza - without olives! - didn't fall down on the dirty ground.

Patty let out the words loudly, almost aggressively.

"I want a _banana_ _split_ this time!"

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><p>"Nero?" Dante's voice asked, at first confounded but then accusatory. "You're here for my pizza too, aren't you? Damn kids these days!"<p>

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><p>The word <em>banana<em> _split_ seemed to echo forever in Lady's mind.

_Banana split._

_Banana split._

_Banana split._

_Oh. My. Fucking. GOD!_

Vergil's eyelids were forced open, a clear reaction to the release word. His electric blue eyes confronted her teal and brown. He must've been confused, because his lips lingered _three_ seconds too long on hers.

Lady broke the kiss hastily and stumbled back, her back crashing into the desk. The watch fell out of her hand - Trish could have the damned thing if she wanted - and hit the floor with a clinking sound.

Vergil and Lady watched each other, looking perplexed and embarrassed.

That precious moment didn't last very long, however.

Lady set off in a frantic getaway, dashing towards the door. She dodged Trish, Nero and Patty fast, but almost crashed into Dante - "_I don't have your money yet_!" - as she fled to the safety of her motorcycle.

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><p>Vergil stroke his hair backwards in a fluid motion, trying to recover his cool.<p>

_Did it fail?_

He had been sitting and feasting his eyes upon Lad- I mean the watch, and the next second Lady's _kissing_ him?

_What the hell did just happen?_

Unwanted memories suddenly swept across his mind.

_How… humiliating._

Vergil felt a vein on his forehead throb viciously.

_She's a complex woman, that Lady._

He cleared his throat and evicted his poker face. It would be critical in the next couple of hours.

_I should pay her a visit._

Vergil rose from his seat and corrected his - brother's - coat smoothly.

_We should be able to sort things out then._

He picked up the watch and hid it in his pocket.

_I'm sure that I wasn't the only one hypnotized._

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Hiya! I had great fun writing this one-shot - considering that I was laughing my ass off all the time - and I hope you guys liked it too.<strong>

**Now, what happened after Vergil followed Lady? Who knows. Perhaps he kicked her butt, or perhaps he didn't. Perhaps they made out in a café, or perhaps they didn't.**

**Perhaps the readers want to contribute their own theories in the review sections, or perhaps they won't.**

**And I welcome constructive criticism, as always.**

**Anyway, I want to thank the people who review/favourite my stories. It really motivates me to write!**

**See ya!**

**/Sphere Dragon**


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